Brief Description: Lapis Lazuli is a rock typically composed of Lazurite, Calcite, Pyrite and Sodalite. Lazurite content is greater than 25% of Lapis Lazuli rock. Lazurite is a sodium calcium aluminium silicate sulphur sulphate mineral. Lazurite crystals are rare, but stunningly blue, often growing from a Calcite or Limestone matrix. Lapis Lazuli is characterised by a deep blue colour, with flecks of Pyrite; the less black or white streaks in the rock, the more valuable the stone. Lapis Lazuli is used in the jewellery trade, and is often carved into ornamental sculptures.

Mythology: Lapis lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan and exported to the Mediterranean world and South Asia since the Neolithic age.Lapis lazuli beads have been found at Mehrgarh, a neolithic site near Quetta in Pakistan, on the ancient trade route between Afghanistan and the Indus Valley, dating to the 7th millennium. Lapis was also used in ancient Mesopotamia by the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians for seals and jewelry. In the Mesopotamian poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh (17th-18th Century BC); one of the oldest known works of literature; lapis lazuli is mentioned several times. The Statue of Ebih-Il, a 3rd millennium BC statue found in the ancient city-state of Mari in modern-day Syria, now in the Louvre, uses lapis lazuli inlays for the irises of the eyes.

Usage:A stone of truth, Lapis encourages honesty of the spirit, and in the spoken and written word. Wear it for all forms of deep communication. It is also a stone of friendship and brings harmony in relationships. A Lapis grid brings calm and loving communication for a home with temperamental teenagers, or children with Asperger's syndrome, autism, or attention-deficit disorder. Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, and vases. It was also ground and processed to make the pigment ultramarine, widely used during the Renaissance in frescoes and oil painting. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint largely ended in the early 19th century when a chemically identical synthetic variety became available.

Metaphysical Properties: Lapis Lazuli opens the third eye and can stimulate visio